


Wanna Wanna Dancing Club! [First Arc]

by jas0pap3r



Series: WWDC (Wanna Wanna Dancing Club!) [1]
Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Also not all the relationships happen, Also this is inspired by ddlc so, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Doki Doki, Inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club!, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Oh My God, Possibly Unrequited Love, You Are Kang Daniel, but ill try to finish, i'll probably finish this fanfic at the end of 2k18, just an idea, just stay with the fanfic, just the idea, not actual ddlc spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-02-28 05:14:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13264446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jas0pap3r/pseuds/jas0pap3r
Summary: WANNA WANNA!Welcome to the Dancing Club! It’s always been a dream of mine to make something special out of the things I love. Now that you’re a club member, you can help me make that dream come true in this cute fanfiction!Everyday is full of fun dancing and activities with all of my adorable and unique club members:Woojin, the youthful bundle of sunshine with great dance moves;Jihoon, the cute boy who also manages to be hot at the same time;Minhyun, the mysterious guy who accidentally ends up taking the reins;… And, of course, Seongwoo, the leader of this club! That’s me!I’m super excited for you to make friends with everyone and help the Dancing Club become a more intimate place for all my members. But I can already tell that you’re a sweetheart—will you promise to spend the most time with me?





	1. Introduction [DAY 0]

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

 “Wake up!”

I groan and curl up in my blankets. Even as I do so, I can feel the full force of my mother's growing rage. She isn’t even in my bedroom yet, but judging from the footsteps I can tell that's about to change.

Surely enough, she knocks open the door and starts yelling at me to get out of bed. “Aigo! Wake up, Euigeon-ah! Today’s the first day of the second semester, and if you’re late to school today, none of the teachers will like you!”

I finally swing my leaden feet off the mattress and stand up. “Mom, I’m not Euigeon-yi anymore, I told you already.”

“Fine. Daniel Kang, if you are not prepared for school by 6:30 am, I don’t know what I’ll do.

******

My foot lands outside the threshold of our apartment door the moment it turns 6:30 am. I hardly have any time to consider this strange coincidence, since school starts at 7 am and I want to be at my homeroom by 6:45 am.

As I head out, I plug in my earphones, and the world’s noise is washed away, replaced with thumping dance music that somehow serves to calm my overactive mind.

I’m so absorbed in the music that I don’t hear the sound of shoes slapping pavement behind me. When I finally do, it’s too late, and —

“Daniel!!!! LET’S GO TO SCHOOL TOGETHER!”

Around me, pedestrians inch away as the screaming banshee known as Woojin flings his arms around me. I can’t help but yelp a little, because who wouldn’t if your best friend flung his arms around you with absolutely no warning?

Yep. This screaming banshee also happens to be my best friend.

I pull away and yank out my left earphone. “Woojin! Don’t be so loud, people think you’re weird!”

“Eheheheheh.” Woojin giggles, a noise that is both exceedingly annoying and extremely endearing. “I just wanted to go to school, and it’s been so long since we walked to school together…” Woojin trailed off and glanced at me with a sneaky expression

I can’t help but blush slightly at the implications of what he just said. Then, when I realize he said that just to mess with me, I start to bat at Woojin’s arm “Woojin-you-know-I-hate-it-when-you-say-that-you-piece-of-”

Woojin dodges my attacks and actually manages to steal my phone as well. “Let’s just go, Daniel~” Woojin skips away, my earphones bouncing alongside him.

I scream at him. “Yaah! Return my phone to me!” I chase after him as well.

We manage to reach the school on time. 

******

The day seems to fly by, what with the customary homework and gossip and everything. And soon enough, the last school bell rings and everybody files out, talking with each other.

I remain in the classroom and stare at my desk. 

Clubs.

I still haven’t told my mom that I was disqualified from the BTS Dancing Club at the final audition. If she did find out, I would be dead. After all, that club was one of the only two prestigious dancing clubs in this entire school. The other club was Wanna Wanna Dancing Club. Woojin was in it, which means he gets a ton of insider information about that club.

He’s always talking about another cute boy in the club. His name was… well, I couldn’t remember, but I’m sure it ended with a ‘hoon.’ 

I sigh. I could potentially sign up again from the BTS Dancing Club and go through the grueling auditions again. But the problem with signing up for that club more than once a year was that the leaders remembered and often gave you a disadvantage.

Woojin had told him that Wanna Wanna didn’t have auditions, which was probably why it was getting less and less funding from the student government. 

If I signed up for BTS again, I could fight against the system. I could try to win against some of the best dancers in my generation.

Or… or I could sign up for Wanna Wanna, a less prestigious club, but still famous for having good dancers. For example, I can't deny that Woojin is a great dancer, even if his personality and probable insanity disguise that fact.

I get up and walk out of the classroom.

******

I hesitate before opening the dance studio door. Unlike BTS Dancing Club, there isn't any thudding dance-pop I can hear, or the sound of sneakers squeaking on rubber tiles, so I assume that the club isn't busy.

The door squeaks as I open it, making me cringe internally, and everything is silent when I poke my head into the studio.

The place is decidedly smaller than the BTS Dancing Club’s studio, but it’s much better organized. The club members, however, are strewn around the room, and all of them stare at my intrusion.

“Daniel?”

Woojin’s voice comes out of nowhere, but it seems to jumpstart a reaction from the rest of the strangers in the studio.

A sharp voice pierces the silence. “It’s another BTS trainee?! We already have enough of those.” 

I whip my head around and see a pink-haired boy. He’s glaring at me, his arms tightly crossed in front of his body. Despite the spunky attitude, I can’t help but notice that he looks like an extremely cute bunny.

“Jihoon-ah—” A softer voice comes from my side, and I turn to see another guy. He seems like the leader of the club since Jihoon shuts his mouth. He still glares at me, and I turn away from him to look at the leader.

I fidget with my fingers and start talking to the leader. “So… um… I want to sign up for this club—”

“—Aah?” The guy’s eyes widen. “Why—Why are you telling me that?” 

“Uh— aren’t you the leader?” I question him.

“NO!” The guy’s reaction is sudden, his voice loud and clear. “I’m — I’m just the vice president…” His voice trickles back into quietude.

“Who’s the leader, then?” I grow increasingly confused. Were they playing a prank on me? What was happening?

“Over here!” Another boy, this one with comma hair, says right behind me.

I jump in the air and yelp in surprise, earning subdued giggles and snort from the other club members. I haven’t said more than two sentences in this club and already I’m reconsidering my life choices. 

“Oh! I haven’t introduced myself.” The comma-haired boy seems to have a permanent smile on his face, but it doesn’t seem fake; he just seems amused by my awkwardness. “My name’s Seongwoo! Ong Seongwoo.”

“Wha—” I start saying, only for Seongwoo to shush me.

“Not Hong, or Gong, or Oong. Ong.” His smile seems to grow wider, but his eyes never leave my face. I finally get a good look at his face as well, and I immediately conclude that he's... handsome. 

“I’ll introduce you to the club members!” Seongwoo gestures to the cute, fiery boy. “His name is Jihoon. He’s cute in public, but in private place like this, he shows his more aggressive side. He's the one who handles choreography for a few songs.

"The one you thought was the leader is Minhyun. He's really quiet and mysterious, but he's good at dancing and also a great co-leader. It's great to work on choreography with him, but he prefers working on the actual dance.

"And the guy who knows you—" Seongwoo started to say. Then he stopped suddenly and peered at me with dancing eyes. "Well, I can tell you know Woojin."

Seongwoo walked backward, in a flamboyant manner. He flashed me a smile and threw out his arms. "Welcome to Wanna Wanna Dancing Club!"

I blink.

"Umm..." I struggle to find words. 

I hadn't expected myself in this situation.

I hadn't expected there to be  _four cute boys in this club_!


	2. End of Intro [Day 0]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WANNA WANNA!
> 
> Welcome to the Dancing Club! It’s always been a dream of mine to make something special out of the things I love. Now that you’re a club member, you can help me make that dream come true in this cute fanfiction!
> 
> Everyday is full of fun dancing and activities with all of my adorable and unique club members:
> 
> Woojin, the youthful bundle of sunshine with great dance moves;  
> Jihoon, the cute boy who also manages to be hot at the same time;  
> Minhyun, the mysterious guy who accidentally ends up taking the reins;  
> … And, of course, Seongwoo, the leader of this club! That’s me!
> 
> I’m super excited for you to make friends with everyone and help the Dancing Club become a more intimate place for all my members. But I can already tell that you’re a sweetheart—will you promise to spend the most time with me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

“Um…” I stutter. I can feel their curious stares on me. “I’m Daniel. Kang Daniel.”

Jihoon snorts derisively, or at least uncomfortably. I can’t really tell since he really is too cute to be able to pull off a derisive snort. “Oh, look at me, I’m a foreigner and I got kicked out of BTS Dancing Clu—“

“Jihoon-ah!” Minhyun’s eyes are wide with surprise. “Why are you being so cold to him? You’ve only just met him.” Minhyun turns towards me, his eyes creasing into a pleading expression. “He’s not usually like this…”

I smile a little. “Well, it helps that he’s wrong.” I look at Jihoon. “I’m not a foreigner, I’m just called Daniel because my normal name is too difficult to pronounce. My real name is—”

“Oh _boohoo._ My name is too difficult to pronounce, says the newbie. Did I ask?” Jihoon’s words contrast against his adorable attempt to be cold, and I can’t help but crack a smile at his attitude. Maybe he was like one of those Japanese stereotypes in anime — what was it called again —

“Well, Daniel, I see you’re already acquainted with the _tsundere_ of the group.” Seongwoo’s voice pipes up out of nowhere, sending a slight chill down my spine. There's no way he could have read my mind, but it feels uncanny how it seemed like he always answered my unasked questions.

Before I think deeper into it, Woojin speaks as well. “Oh gosh, Daniel! I thought you were going to give BTS Dancing Club another try.”

Ah. That’s how Jihoon knows.

I smile at him. “I don’t want to claw back up to the top again.”

“Why did you choose this one, then?” Seongwoo inquires, his smile slipping off. “Did you choose this club because there’s no audition and you don’t have to try hard?”

“No! No, it’s not like that!” Flabbergasted, I look to Woojin for help, but it’s Minhyun who comes to my aid.

“Seongwoo, we all know, Daniel included, that Wanna Wanna is one of the best dance groups in this school! You can’t accuse Daniel of being a cheapskate when you know he’s tried for BTS Dancing Club as well.” Minhyun’s outburst takes everyone by surprise, myself included.

Seongwoo’s frown softens. “Well, we’ll see.” Then the smile comes back in full force. “Starting from today!”

******

And that’s how I found myself in front of four expectant faces. 

At least it’s better than the BTS auditions, where I had to dance in front of fifty uninterested people. Here, at Wanna Wanna, everyone, even Jihoon, seems genuinely curious about my ability to dance.

I wait for music, a drum beat, any rhythm to get me started. But none come.

Seongwoo smiles. “Right now, we don’t want to see a dance routine to a song or something. We just want to see your dance in free-form.”

“Uwah!” Woojin gapes at Seongwoo. “That’s the first time you’ve informed a newbie so nicely about the audition process!”

Seongwoo smiles at Woojin, but I get a feeling he’s somehow looking at me at the same time. “Well, he did seem confused, and he does have quite the dance reputation.”

I blush slightly but get back to the task at hand.

I start with some free dancing. Minhyun seems to focus on me, his eyes following my movements as I lose myself in the spontaneity of the free dancing. A subdued smile dances on his lips, and for a moment he looks ethereal.

Then I remember that this is an audition and that I should be showcasing as many of my talents as possible.

So I stop and start doing a dance routine that is chock-full of aegyo.

Minhyun’s slight smile fades away, but he still looks at each of my movements. This time, however, Jihoon looks pleased, the adorable frown replaced with a cherubic smile as he focuses on my movements. I deliberately go out my way to make some of the movements even cuter, and Jihoon seems to stifle his giggles, a feat I never considered possible.

I realized that so far, Seongwoo and Woojin haven’t brightened up at any of the dance moves I’ve done so far. Well, Woojin hasn’t. Seongwoo seems to be bopping along, his eyes dancing with amusement. Almost as if he knew I was trying to impress everybody in the club.

I stop the cute routine and barrel straight into my third routine. This one was structured to be suggestive and sexual, so I try to match my expression with that as well.

Jihoon stops smiling immediately, his face reverting into a deeper scowl than before. I can practically hear his insults from here. Minhyun goes red and covers his cheeks with his hands.

Woojin, on the other hand, brightens considerably. And it’s no wonder; Woojin helped in making this routine, so I knew it would please Woojin to see me auditioning for his club using a dance routine we collaborated together on. 

Then I notice Seongwoo, who has stopped bouncing along to a nonexistent rhythm. He is looking at me, but in a way that the other three members aren’t. He seems to be peering _into_ me, watching past the movements and the routine and under my skin. 

It’s disconcerting at first, but as I slow my routine down, I find the gaze to be soothing. It’s almost as if he knows something about me that I didn’t even know, and for a split second I feel secure.

Then I stop completely, and Seongwoo’s eyes slide off me, and the strange calm flies out the window.

Woojin, Jihoon, and Minhyun all stand up, mouths ready to provide feedback — or in Jihoon’s case, insults — but Seongwoo lifts his hand. They turn silent and sit back down in their seats.

“I think,” Seongwoo says, “that we should accept Daniel into our dance group. What do you guys think?”

Minhyun is the first to respond. “With a little more training… yes, I think he’ll be the best dancer in this school!” Minhyun suddenly seems fired up, his eyes sparkling with determination: a huge difference from before.

Jihoon shrugs. A nonchalant “hmph” is all he says.

Woojin grins. “Yeah! My best friend in the same club as me? Of course, we should have him in the club.”

Seongwoo smiles indulgently at the three and turns to me. “Welcome to Wanna Wanna! This time, for real.”

I shudder with relief, releasing a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Well, that’s good!”

Seongwoo pulls up an extra seat beside him and pats it. I sit there, relieved that they’d all accepted me into the club.

“Okay!” Seongwoo rubs his hands. “Now that we’ve acquired a new member, we’d better tell him how Wanna Wanna works.” Seongwoo looks at Minhyun with an expectant expression.

Minhyun takes a deep breath, his determination and fire replaced with a timid expression and hesitant eyes. “Well… uh, Wanna Wanna isn’t actually this small… uh…” Minhyun fidgets in his seat. “Wanna Wanna is divided into three. The Dancing Club, the Vocal Club, and the PR Club.”

I wrinkle my eyebrows in confusion. “Wait. Why is the club divided like that?”

Woojin is the one who replies for this. “It just naturally got like that. The singers wanted to explore a different direction than the dancers, so it just split like this.”

Jihoon pipes up next. “Now that the Dancing Club has five members, we can try to reunite all of Wanna again. That way, we can develop into a boy band or something like that, and we’ll get rich before we’re twenty!”

Seongwoo laughs, a pure tinkling noise spilling from his lips. “And you say you aren’t cute, Jihoon-ah?”

Jihoon’s scowl returns swiftly. “I am not cute! I am Park Jihoon, and I am hot.” Jihoon’s voice is serious, but I don’t know who he’s trying to fool. 

Woojin giggles now. “Eheheh!” He flung his arms around Jihoon, eliciting a half-hearted push from Jihoon.

Minhyun smiles for a fleeting second before reverting back to his solemn expression. “It is true that we would get more attention and funding from the student government if we had all our members.”

Seongwoo looked at me. “Well, with the addition of such a good dancer, we’ll definitely have enough power to get all of us together. 

“But!” Seongwoo’s voice is suddenly sharp and authoritative, and the warm atmosphere suddenly turns frigid. Serious. “But, we’re going to have to prove that we deserve this power. That’s why I want you guys, each, to make a dance routine.”

We’re all taken aback.

Jihoon splutters. “What? You want us to dance in front of other people?” 

Seongwoo wrinkles his eyebrows. “I told you it’s the only way to get our club back together.”

Minhyun and Woojin are silent, but they seem to be thinking the same thing I am. 

Following a dancer’s routine online and perfecting it or adding your own taste to it was one thing. Making a completely new routine was quite another. It meant having to expose your personal thought processes, your personal dance moves. This kind of routine couldn’t afford to be bad or flawed; otherwise, your entire dance reputation could be demolished.

But the three other club members all seem to have a lot of experience in choreography.

Right then, Seongwoo turns to me. “Judging from your dance moves and how you reacted to this, I can tell you don’t have a lot of experience creating a choreography?” 

I nod wordlessly.

“That’s great!” Seongwoo’s enthusiasm throws me off. “That means that you can make a dance routine with another group member! As you do that, you can gain some experience with choreographing and maybe even be able to create your own dance routine for the show!”

My troubles fade. If I was going to make a dance routine with someone else, it would be alright.

And then my mind whirled again. Who was I going to make the routine with?

“Oh, and Daniel, you can choose anybody you want to choreograph with. You could even choose not to choreograph with someone else!” Seongwoo smiled at me, and I wondered how someone as handsome as him didn’t have a devilish smile. 

Seongwoo addressed the entire club now. “Club is over for today! The homework for everyone— and that includes you, Daniel — is to start making a rudimentary dance routine. It doesn’t even have to be sequenced or anything like that. The song we are going to be dancing to is _Into You_ by Ariana Grande. Remember, okay?”

Everyone makes a noise of assent, but I remain silent.

Starting from next class, I have to choreograph with someone. But I also need to have some ideas for the next club meet. That meant that I needed to start thinking about who I wanted to choreograph with. 

Will it be my best friend, Woojin?

The cute yet sharp boy, Jihoon?

Or the mysterious guy, Minhyun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of the intro!
> 
> In two weeks, I will be posting the three different paths you can take. I've decided against posting for one person a week since that would result in jumps in the story and an unfair experience for certain shippers.
> 
> See y'all then!
> 
> Please give feedback and kudos! It's a small action on your part, but it would really motivate me to work on this fanfiction!


	3. Woojin's Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens in Wanna Wanna when you decide to choreograph with Park Woojin?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

**PARK WOOJIN**

It’s the night before the club meeting, and I, the famed procrastinator, forgot to think about who I wanted to plan out my choreography with until 2 am. 

I consider my choices again. Maybe I could take a shot at creating a choreography with Minhyun, but he seems way above my league in terms of experience. At another time, I could possibly collaborate with him, but I put that decision for after Wanna Wanna unites again and I get more experience.

Seongwoo did mention that Jihoon had choreographing experience, but for some reason, he’s really cold towards me. I don’t know what I’ve done against him to warrant it, and I decide to choreograph with him in the future if he gets nicer.

That leaves Seongwoo and Woojin.

I consider Seongwoo for a moment. He’s nice and a great leader. But he never gave any indication of how much experience he has with choreography.

And that’s how I end up sketching random dance moves I thought Woojin might like.

******

As I walk to school the next day, I hear the patter of feet behind me. I turn around expectantly and see a cheerful albeit messy Woojin rushing towards me. 

“Daniel!” he shouts, despite the fact that he is literally a meter away from me. He doesn’t fling his arms around me like he did two days ago, deeming only to grip the sleeve of my sweater tightly. 

“Woojin-ah!” Despite the sheer force he is using to grip my sleeve, I allow him to do so. “Why are you so messy today?” It’s true as well; his hair is even more ruffled than before, and his sweater is ratty and pink; a rare instance for Woojin.

Woojin grins up at me, his snaggletooth showing itself to me. “I didn’t sleep until 4 am yesterday, so I overslept today.”

I smile, predicting the reason why he slept late. “Is it because you didn’t sketch our your dance routine until the last moment?” My smile grows wider when Woojin’s eyes grow wider and his hands fly up to his gaping mouth.

“Uuwah!” Woojin makes a sound of childish wonder. “How did you know that? Are you telepathic?”

I smile and ruffle his hair for a quick moment. “Because I didn’t do my dance routine until the last moment as well.” I slip my hand away. “Dummy.”

Woojin’s previously awed expression slips into a faux-angry frown. “How dare you call me, the mighty Woojin, a _dummy!_ ” He stomped ahead of me, trying his best to impersonate anger. “Don’t walk with me to school today!”

I laugh and catch up with him. “Woojin-ah~~ Don’t be upset!” I think of something to say at the last moment. “I decided to have you as my dance routine collaborator.”

Woojin freezes in his tracks and turns towards me. “REALLY???”

I just laugh and nod my head.

Woojin skips the rest of the way to school, while I follow behind him, laughing while strangers peer at us with judgmental eyes.

******

The moment school ends, I make my way to the studio.

When I open the door, I see Woojin absentmindedly pulling off a strange dance routine. Minhyun, on the other hand, is sitting at a desk. A single glance tells me that he’s finishing off something much more than a sketch of a dance routine.

_If I’d been his partner and I brought what I’ve done in_ … I shuddered slightly at the thought.

Just then, Woojin notices me, and in a space of a moment, he’s across the classroom and clutching my sweater. “Daniel! Daniel, nobody’s giving me any attention and I’m _dying_.” Woojin emphasized the last word by gasping loudly and clutching his chest.

I smile involuntarily. “Woojin-ah! Were you trying to disturb Minhyun?” I can hear the sound of Minhyun’s pencil slowing down at the mention of his name.

Woojin pouted. “I was dancing and singing and even rapping in front of him, but he just kept on drawing his dance routine! It was already done anyway, but he kept erasing parts of it and finishing it up! Minhyun’s weird~” Woojin smiled, then immediately pouted again and buried his head in my sweater.

“Uh—” I back away, unsure of why Woojin was suddenly being so clingy. It was then that I heard a stifled giggle.

I turn my head to see Minhyun, whose hands are covering his mouth. His eyes are wide with quickly-dissipating mirth. When we lock eyes, he breaks away immediately. “I — ! I wasn’t… eavesdropping or anything like that. It was just—” Minhyun stops abruptly, and then goes back to drawing his dance routine.

I shrug and turn back to Woojin. “Do you really want that much attention?” I tease him, poking his sides. He only lets me poke his sides. Anybody else would get murdered instantly. I just get a murderous glare.

Woojin glares at me. “Yeah! I want attention. Give me some—”

Just then, a blur whips behind Woojin and extends a hand to slap Woojin’s butt. The hair is accompanied by a mischievous cackle.

Woojin flies away from me, his eyes already turning angry. “Who did that!”

The blur slows down into Jihoon. For once, he isn’t glaring even though he sees me. He’s smirking instead, which is still a negative expression but was infinitely better than those furrowed eyebrows. “I did, dumbass!” 

Woojin’s expression softens as well. “It’s the cutie!” Woojin exclaims. I stare in horror as Woojin hurtles towards his death with open arms.

Except he reaches Jihoon and wraps him up in his arms. Jihoon’s smirk transitions into a cold frown, but he allows the embrace, even though he does appear somewhat stiff. Jihoon started grumbling about how Woojin was being too clingy, but he didn’t seem to mind.

They’re wearing complementary pink sweaters, and I can’t help but think of a pair of pink sausages. 

Just then, I hear another mirthful giggle. I turn to see Minhyun, who has abandoned his sketch to see the pink duo.

I make my way to him, determined to have an actual conversation with him this time around. When Minhyun notices me, his expression slips back into a neutral one, as if my face made him stop laughing. He doesn’t ignore me, though, which I take as a good sign.

I sit next to him. Instead of pressuring him into a conversation, I just continue looking at the embracing duo. It practically seems like a comedy, what with Jihoon trying to act cold and reserved while being embraced by the clingiest person in this universe.

Once again, I hear a giggle from Minhyun. I take this as my cue to ask him a few questions. “Minhyun, you laugh really rarely.”

The words are out before I can take them back, but Minhyun seems to take this commentary rather well. “Well, there’s usually not a lot of things I can laugh at, but Jihoon’s interactions with Woojin are truly hilarious.” Minhyun’s voice is infused with seriousness, even when he’s talking about something funny.

I gesture to his sketches. “Did you forget to do your sketches last night?” 

His eyes widen. “N-No! I just… I did do it, but I thought it wasn’t good enough, so I started working on a new one when I came to the club.”

It’s my turn to be surprised. “Wait. You managed to do this much in…” I look at the clock. “… ten minutes?” I look at him with awe. Now I know that collaborating with him would have been a big mistake. If I brought what I’ve sketched so far to him, he would probably throw up and never look at me again. 

Minhyun smiles nervously. “Is… Is that a bad thing? Sorry if I come across as weird!” Minhyun bows his head back down. 

Before he shuts down and ignores me again, I change the topic. “Do you know where Seongwoo is?”

Minhyun looks around the class, his face confused. “Um… I don’t know.” Minhyun lowers his head. “I’m sorry!” He looks even more panicked than before.

Before I can say anything, the door flies open and Seongwoo steps through. He’s panting like’s he’s been exercising. “I’m so sorry guys! I was too focused on what I was doing during study hall and I didn’t hear the bell!”

Woojin frowns. “That doesn’t make sense? What were you doing at that time.”

Seongwoo steals a glance at me. “I was… well, I was writing something.”

Jihoon raises an eyebrow. “What’s it about?” His question is blunt, but it seems to surprise Seongwoo. 

Seongwoo fumbles with his words. “Uh… I’m… not quite sure yet.” He smiles quickly and waves his arms. “Anyways!” His voice is authoritative, silencing any possible questions. “I want us to finish up any spare details for your dance routine. This is individual, but if you want to talk to others, whatever.”

_This club is unlike any other club I’ve ever been in!_ I think to myself.

I bring back out my sketch. After spending a few minutes half-heartedly retracing a few vague lines, I deem my sketch finished and lean back in my chair.

Except no one else is finished. Everyone, including Woojin, is working on their sketches, all of them deep in thought. Even Woojin, the one who couldn’t sit still around me, was completely lost in another world, his pencil wildly drawing out different postures or dance moves.

I sigh and lay my head on the table. I can’t help but overhear a conversation Minhyun and Seongwoo are having.

“I don’t understand. Why do we _have_ to rejoin the rest of the Wanna Wanna? Even it might fetch us a bit more funding, we’ll no longer be able to make our free dance routines!” Minhyun seems stressed, judging from his tone. 

“We went over this yesterday, Minhyun.” Seongwoo sighs heavily. “Right now, our funding is at an all-time low, and our dancing club might be forced to disband next year if we don’t get any more funding. I’m already trying my best to pull some strings in the student government, but everyone says we’ll only have a chance if we unite Wanna Wanna.”

“B-But…” Minhyun trails away. A few moments later, he talks again. “Seongwoo, Wanna Wanna Singers are basically becoming their own band, and I’ve heard that they don’t want to introduce any dancers into their songs. Wanna News has great singers and dancers, but they haven’t practiced both skills at all for at least two years now.”

As I listen to Minhyun’s calm, logical speech, I feel a stir of surprise. He might be shy and timid, but when he starts talking about something he cares about, his entire demeanor changes a little more assertive.

Sleep starts to take over my eyelids, and the conversation drifts away into silence. I’m just about to close my eyes when Woojin’s face abruptly fills my field of vision.

I flinch backward, and Woojin’s face cracks into a smile. 

“Sorry, Daniel!” Then Woojin seems to reconsider something. “Actually… no! You’re the one who was falling asleep in a dancing club! Do you want to dance or not?”

I smile sheepishly. “I’m sorry, but this room is really comfortable and I’m running on two hours of sleep.” I make my best puppy eyes to Woojin, hoping he won’t push the issue further. “Please don’t pick on me, Woojin.”

Woojin huffs. “I’m running on one hour of sleep, and I woke you up. I’m wide awake too!”

“At least I don’t come to school like I’ve been in a hurricane!” I retort.

Woojin’s eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”

I sigh and stand up. I run a finger through his snarled hair. When my index finger inevitably gets caught in a tangled lump of hair, Woojin yelps. “First of all, you’re hair is way messier than it usually is.” I lift my hand to my nose and sniff my fingers. While there isn’t any odor, I pretend to barf just to mess with Woojin. Woojin glowers slightly.

“Also, your sweater’s so ratty, like you haven’t washed it for ages.” I clutch his wrist and lift his arm towards me. I sniff the sweater’s sleeve. When my nose bumps slightly against Woojin’s wrist, he twitches. It’s then that I realize that he’s holding his breath, looking at my hand on his wrist.

I hastily drop it, suddenly horribly conscious of the fact that I was essentially breathing in Woojin’s scent. “I’m sorry Woojin, but that sweater has to go.” I say this in an attempt to lighten the mood.

He doesn’t reply.

Slightly unnerved, I rummage around in my backpack for the spare sweater I always bring around just in case the one I’m wearing gets dirty. When I do find it, I toss it to Woojin. “I washed it yesterday, so it should be fine.”

Finally, Woojin smiles and the mood lifts a little. “You’re so nice to me, Daniel.” For the first time in five years, he isn’t looking me square in the eye when he’s talking, choosing instead to talk to the sweater.

Woojin pulls off the ratty pink sweater he has on, and I see a flash of unmarked, bare skin. It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen Woojin’s bare skin, but this time I feel something like embarrassment or shame. I turn my head.

“Done!” Woojin sounds pleased, and I turn to see him in my sweater.

The sweater is definitely too big for him. The sleeves seem practically baggy on him, and the collar is tilted severely. Nonetheless, I smile. “You can take that sweater if you want.” It feels like the right thing to do.

Woojin’s smile is wide again, and for the first time, I notice that, for all his insanity and glaring, Park Woojin has a cute smile.

Just then, Seongwoo’s voice slices through the tense moment. “Gather back here! I want to talk about what we’re going to do next.”

I head on back to Seongwoo, but I can’t erase the image of Woojin with my oversized sweater. 

“Aight!” Seongwoo’s voice sounds resolved. “There’s been a slight change of plans. We’re still going to have to present our dance routines in front of Wanna Wanna. BUT— I’ve decided that we should share our dance routines with our group members first!”

“I’m not done yet I’m not done yet!” He shushes us, even though none of us were trying to ask any questions in the first place. “I know that none of us, not even Minhyun, has a dance routine done today. So I just want you guys to show your sketches to each other for now. And we’re not going to do it in front of everyone else. You can show individuals, one at a time since I know some of you are a little scared of showing your sketches in front of everybody.”

I nod. That seems logical, but it still terrifies me when I realize that I’m going to have to show my dance routine to Minhyun or Jihoon, who will both probably be super critical of my routine.

Oh, whatever. Might as well get the worst done with first.

*******

I tap Jihoon’s shoulder. “Jihoon…” I try to use my nicest voice. “Could you please look over my sketches for the dance routine?”

To my surprise, Jihoon doesn’t scowl at me. He just mutters something about low expectations while we make our way across the room, but it’s an improvement from the silent glares he’d been throwing at me since I entered this studio two days ago.

He spends a few minutes scanning over my sketches. His face is almost emotionless as I see his eyes linger on the more suggestive dance moves, but I can tell that he’s trying to disguise a frown.

Finally, he sets down my paper. I cringe internally as I wait for a bashing.

What I get is the complete opposite.

“Okay…” Jihoon shoves his hair back. “First of all, I’ve already come to terms with the fact that I will never like anything you do. Maybe it’s because we’re too different, maybe it’s because we like different things. Whatever the reason is, the result is the same: I don’t like your dance routines.”

I feel part of my ego being beat up by this choreographer.

“Which means that I can only give you feedback in a completely objective way.”

I blink. I wasn’t expecting him to give me any feedback at all.

“First of all, I understand that you like more suggestive, exaggerated moves, judging from your sketches.” I nod silently. “Well, that’s cool and all, but the thing is some of these moves are too… suggestive for the event we’re doing this dance in.

“Yeah, I understand that it’s _Into You_ by Ari. But that doesn’t mean you have to become the embodiment of sex. A few hip rolls and suggestive moves are fine, but some of these moves are too weird to be showing in front of 10 other people.”

I’m shocked. Jihoon’s feedback isn’t infused with any of the coldness from a few days back, and the immaturity and pettiness that he’d displayed a few days ago are completely gone.

Jihoon continues. “For me, dancing isn’t a chance to show off your best moves. It’s a chance to impress your audience. It might seem like there’s no difference, but you can impress an audience with easy moves or make an audience bored with the most complicated moves ever.”

Jihoon stops talking and looks at me. “I understand our styles are very different, but it’s just some feedback from me.”

I nod my head slowly, taking in all of the information he just gave me. “Okay…”

I start moving away when I remember that I have to look at his sketches as well. I extend my hand, waiting for him to give me the paper.

Jihoon stares at my hand and gives me a high-five.

“Um…” I stammer. “I was… asking for your sketches.”

“Oh.” Jihoon’s cheeks flare the slightest tint of red, and as he gives me the sketches he mutters about me being an asshat by not telling him about what I wanted from him.

I scan over Jihoon’s sketches. The way he sketched out his dance routine reflected the dance routine itself: simple and effective. For example, there wasn’t any b-boying or free-dances. The dance’s moves itself were easy. But in Jihoon’s meticulous sketches the moves had been sequenced into an unlikely combination. 

I smile at how well Jihoon’s personality was reflected in just a few pencil strokes.

“Well?” 

I look up at Jihoon, who’s looking at me with a strangely expectant expression.

“Well, you’ve already said that our styles are different, and I agree with you on that.” After this statement, I choose my words carefully. “But I think that your style really matches what you said and what you’ve acted like so far. The moves themselves are simple and easy to execute. But you’ve put the routine together in an impactful way.”

Jihoon looks surprised. “You sound like you’re experienced.” His tone is teasing, but his eyes showed curiosity.

I shrug my shoulders. “I’m not experienced in choreography, but I’ve danced for almost my entire life. I could visualize dancing to this routine, and it really matched _Into You_ well.”

Jihoon finally smiles at me. “I know, right! At least you understand, even if you’re different.” The old, caustic Jihoon is back, but there’s no more scowl, just attitude. 

I smile back. “Thanks, Jihoon.”

******

I walk away from Jihoon, my mind inspired by the dance routine I saw from him. Then I start towards Minhyun.

When Minhyun notices me, he doesn’t hide away from me at all. Instead, he just extends his hand. I pass my sketch to him, and I notice that my hand is trembling.

Minhyun notices as well and looks at me with concerned eyes. “Are you alright, Daniel? You’re pale.” Then Minhyun himself pales. “Is it — it’s me, isn’t it?” Minhyun’s face is already collapsing with sorrow. “I’m so sorry for making you uncomfortable!”

I sit next to him. “I’m scared because I’m showing my dance routine to someone as experienced as you.” I hope my tone is reassuring.

It seems to work because Minhyun looks up with a subdued smile. “Is… is that so?” He seems pleased to hear the praise, and when he starts looking at my sketch he seems to be awash with relief.

It was strange, how a single compliment was able to change Minhyun’s mood so abruptly.

As Minhyun scanned my paper, his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes going over and over several different dance sequences.

It’s at least ten minutes before I feel it necessary to cough.

Minhyun starts and immediately starts apologizing. “I’m sorry, I forgot to give you feedback, I took away so much time from you!”

“It’s alright! Just some feedback would be great!”

Minhyun takes a deep breath and seems to be gathering his thoughts. When he does speak, it’s with that soothing tone he uses when he's sure of what he’s talking about.

“One thing I want you to know is that I’m very different from most choreographers. And I don’t mean it in an altogether positive way.” Minhyun takes another deep breath. “The thing is… I don’t usually like rigidly-structured dance routines.

“What I mean is that I don’t like sequences. I like dancing in a more natural, improvised way. Some call it abandoning yourself to the beat of the dance or the music.”

“Something I discovered as I gathered more experience in choreography is that most choreographers try to fit dance moves to the music. That could end up in a cool choreography that matches with the music. Most of the time, though, the dance doesn’t match the music or the dance is awkward.

“That’s why I like dancing in a more free manner. I draw so many sketches not because I’m making a well-constructed choreography, but to draw out my internal visualizations of how I improvise.

“So my overall feedback is that your dance routine seems a little… forced to the music. The sequences don’t flow in certain places of the music, like the second verse. I would probably fix that by just closing your eyes, listening to the music, and sketching out your choreography.”

I nod slowly, my head scrambling to keep everything organized.

Minhyun hands over his sketches to me, and I can immediately see what he means. His sketches are actually one huge sketch, the moves from one picture to the other traced with lines to show the smooth transitions.

I tried to visualize how the dance would work, but I couldn’t; the movements were too chaotic, too random and flowing compared to what I was used to. 

In the end, I gave him back his sketch. He looked at me with expectant eyes, as if he really did want feedback from me.

“Uh…” I scramble to find the right words to say. “The sketches look really natural. But I couldn’t visualize the dance in my mind. It just seems chaotic in some parts, but the chaos seems to be natural in a strange way.”

Minhyun smiles. “It’s okay if you can’t visualize the dance in your mind; most people can’t since I basically just drew out how the dance routine would work in my mind.” Minhyun looks back down at his sketch, his smile fading into a look of concentration

I nod. “Well, thank you for the help, Minhyun!”

I doubt Minhyun hears me.

******

I decide to go to Woojin next. It was about time anyway.

Woojin seems to see me right then since he raises his arm to motion me. For a moment, the overly large sleeve drags downward, revealing his forearm. Woojin’s eyes widen comically, and he flings his arm back down.

I snicker slightly at Woojin’s antics and walk over to his desk. When I finally sit down on his right, Woojin starts bouncing in his seat, his eyes dancing with mischief

“Daniel Daniel Daniel Daniel—” Woojin’s chanting my name as if it’s a mantra, and I laugh at how he’s bouncing up and down, as if he couldn’t keep still. “Daniel Daniel Daniel GIVE ME YOUR SKETCH.”

With a fluid stretch, Woojin reaches across my body and claws for my sketches. I laugh at how he’s thrashing in an attempt to get my papers when I realize that he’s essentially lying down on my lap.

Woojin stops thrashing around and twists his body so that his face is looking upwards. “I like this place, Daniel.” Woojin flashed me a faux-sweet smile. “Can I lay here forever? Your thighs are so soft~”

On any other day, I would have laughed it off. Today, the combination of Woojin wearing my sweater and Woojin’s snaggletooth forces a blush on my cheeks. I stutter, but I don’t try to take him off my lap. If anything, the weight and warmth of his head on my lap is…

“You look like a peach right now, Daniel.” Woojin teases me, reaching out his arms to my face. When I don’t lower my head to let him pinch my cheeks, he rises upwards and pulls my head closer down by force. I choke on thin air as Woojin pulls my face closer.

Woojin’s about to squeeze my cheek when he hesitates as well. His previously gleeful expression slides into a shyly happy expression. A flush rises from under his — _my_ — sweater and crawls across his own cheeks. He scampers off of my lap, leaving a cold hollow on my laps.

“Just—” Woojin extends his arms, his face red but still graced with a shy smile. 

“Ah— Here… here you go.” I awkwardly hand him my sketch, knowing that something strange had just happened between us.

When Woojin first looks over his sketch, he seems unable to focus, sneaking peeks at me every now and then. However, as a minute passes, he starts becoming absorbed in my sketches, his painfully shy smile replaced with an “O” of wonder. Then, his expression morphs into a slight frown.

By the time he looks up again, his blush is gone, and he looks at me with a somewhat accusing expression.

“You’ve choreographed before, haven’t you?” 

I’m taken aback by the question. “Uh—no! The only time I’ve made a dance routine is with you.” I answer as honestly as I can.

To my further surprise, Woojin frowns. “That doesn’t explain how your sketches are so good.”

This is the last thing I’ve expected to hear from Woojin. “But— but Jihoon and Minhyun both criticized my sketches!” I peer at his face, looking for any traces of deception.

He laughs shortly, his eyes flaring with something like jealousy. “You’re going to trust Jihoon and Minhyun over me?” Woojin sneers at me. Instead of making me laugh, the sneer makes my stomach churn with anxiety. “Over me, your—”

Just then, Woojin goes quiet.

When he starts talking again, his voice is quiet. “If you won’t trust my opinion, you can work with Minhyun or Jihoon.”

Well, this conversation changed directions rather quickly.

“Woojin-ah! When I said that, I meant that I couldn’t believe someone actually liked my sketches.” I try my best to placate a stony-faced Woojin.

Woojin’s angry facade cracks immediately. “I shouldn’t be letting you off the hook so easily, you know…” Woojin’s voice makes it clear that he has forgiven me a little bit. Which means that he hasn’t quite forgiven me completely.

There’s only one more thing to do.

I bend over his lap this time and claw for his sketches.

“Kang Dan—!!” Woojin’s blush returns in full force and looks away. I look up at him like he did at me, and I’m startled at just how much heat he’s radiating. He seems thoroughly embarrassed. Well, not just embarrassed; he seems to be breathing a little harder as well.

I take a deep breath. “I like this place, Woojin.” Woojin chokes on air. “Can I stay here forever?”

Woojin’s face isn’t getting redder, but his eyes have a glint in them when he locks eyes with me. It’s not a predatory glint or anything creepy, but still seeing that unfamiliar glint scares me. I clamber back up into my seat, taking his sketches this time.

This time, I can feel his eyes on my hands as I flip over his sketches. I try my best to focus, but Woojin’s slightly erratic breathing and intense stare are… disturbing, to say the very least. 

I finally finish looking at his sketches and lay them back down on the desk. It’s only then that Woojin looks away from my hands.

“Well, I think that your sketches are really good. Much better than mine, actually.” I try to lighten the mood with some self-deprecating humor.

A beat of silence.

“Obviously, mine is better than yours.” Woojin finally seems to calm down and looks at me. “I’ve been in this club longer than you have.”

The tone is still a little clipped and irritated, but I can tell Woojin has forgotten all about our small fight.

“So… help me out with my sketch?” I ask, my tone filling with hope before I know it.

“Not right now… maybe we can meet over tomorrow or today after club. We live near each other, after all.” Woojin says the last line like it’s an excuse, but his earlier statement fills me with a strange happiness.

I nod slowly, my heart suddenly racing.

“Well… see you later…” I smile at him, hoping to dispel the sudden awkwardness that has settled over the both of us.

He doesn’t reply and stares at his lap.

******

I reach Seongwoo last.

When he sees me, his smile is blinding, and I can’t help but perk up a little at the fact that the leader looked so happy to see me.

When I sit down next to Seongwoo, he immediately gets to business. “So!” Seongwoo looks at me with a curious expression. “How’s the club time going so far?”

“It’s going great so far. I got to meet up with Jihoon and Minhyun, who both gave me different advice, and Woojin says he wants to work on the dance routine after school with me! So I think it’s going well!” I try to sound as enthusiastic as possible, although the memory of Woojin’s strange behavior continuously disturbs me.

“Well, that’s good.” Seongwoo smiles kindly at me, his eyes dancing with merriment. “You and Woojin looked really friendly just now! Eh hehe.” Seongwoo’s giggle isn’t annoyingly high-pitched, but it still puts me a little on edge.

I scratch the back of my head in embarrassment. I’d forgotten that Seongwoo would notice everything that went on in the club and the way he’d giggled afterward suggested that Seongwoo had interpreted Woojin’s actions wrongly. “I promise, it’s not like that…”

Seongwoo waves me off with a flippant smile. “I don’t really care. I don’t want to disturb your life in any way!” Then Seongwoo leans in, the smile replaced with a conspirational expression. “You want to know something about Woojin, though?”

I raise my eyebrows. Whatever Seongwoo was about to tell me, I probably knew already. We were best friends, after all. “What is it?”

“Woojin only talks about you in clubs. He even once told me that he might have a crush on you!” Seongwoo’s grin returns as he falls back into his chair.

“Wh—!” I’m spluttering in confusion when Seongwoo takes the sketches in my hand.

He looks over them, and the grin on his face softens. “Good work! I can see from your dance routine that you’re impressed by Woojin.” Seongwoo’s eyes suddenly take on an eerie light as he looks at me. I feel his gaze piercing through me again, and I suddenly feel disconcerted at how he seems to be looking at my very soul just with a single look. “I bet this is why Woojin wanted to work with you after club time!”

I avert my eyes from Seongwoo in an attempt to hide that strange feeling. “Well… it could just be that he wanted to come over to my home…”

Seongwoo smiles kindly again and pats my thigh lightly. “It’s okay, Daniel. If you’re feeling any emotions, just tell me and everything will be fine.” Seongwoo then pulled away and gave me his sketches for his dance routine.

I looked it over and saw a series of fascinating sketches, the dances shifting from complex to simple and back to complex, like a flower budding and falling and flowering all at once. Yet the dance routine felt strangely disconnected, almost as if he’d stopped making the sketch one day and finished it off on another.

I look back up at him with a questioning look on my face. Seongwoo takes one look and laughs, a slight noise of self-deprecation. “It’s okay if you don’t like it. Just give me any feedback!” For the guy who called himself a leader, Seongwoo seemed, for just a moment, awfully vulnerable.

“I thought the dance looked great on paper. But… I don’t know how the dance would work out in real life.” When Seongwoo looks like he’s expecting more, I grow flustered. “That’s… it…”

Seongwoo’s smile stays on, and he pats my shoulder lightly. “That’s alright. It’s okay if you don’t understand what you’re looking at yet! You’ll understand with more experience. Maybe more time in Wanna Wanna will open your eyes.”

******

“Okay, Wanna Wanna! Get together for the last meeting before the end of club!” Seongwoo’s loud voice carries across the studio, and I snap out of my daze.

I had been dozing off in the corner of the studio, waiting while the others shared their dance routines. As I saw the scenes unfold, I just decided to catch up on some more sleep.

Now that we’re called back, I lift my head back up and move back up to Seongwoo. I can barely pay any attention to where I’m standing, much less why we were having a meeting five minutes before the club was supposed to end.

“Okay! So, because today is the last club block this week, I want you guys to come up with a dance routine by next week. Practice it if you can, but a fleshed out routine by next club block is enough.”

I feel warmth enclasp me. Two slim arms wrap around my stomach, and I feel someone burying their face below my shoulder blades. I don’t need to look down or twist around to know that it’s Woojin hugging me.

We’ve always been comfortable around each other. Now, however, Woojin’s contact both soothes my mind and ruffles my consciousness. My scant attention becomes focused on the way Woojin’s hands were pressing themselves onto my stomach, on the way Woojin was trying to come as close as possible to my back, how his strange scent filled my nose—

“Okay! Club dismissed!”

The last statement cuts through the tension like a hot knife, and I flinch slightly. The hands slip away, the pressure on my back fades, and Woojin’s scent blows away, leaving me with a peculiar ache.

I spin around to see Woojin smiling up at me. “Ready to go, Daniel?” He appears flippant again as if the earlier awkwardness had never happened. As if he’d completely forgotten about what had happened earlier.

I shoulder my backpack. “Yeah. My place at 9 pm, okay? I have to go to hagwons and stuff.” In reality, I need time to clean up my room and my sketches so that we’ll have something to work on when Woojin comes by.

Woojin’s smile falters. “But I wanted to come over right away.” Woojin looks downwards and swallows hard. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be brave enough to—” Woojin stops himself and looks up at me, his eyes glinting again with that strange light. This time, the way he looked at me didn’t scare me. On the contrary…

Woojin slowly walks up to me, his face focusing on mine the entire time. He stops a few inches in front of me, enough for me to be able to smell him again.

The scent is what finally breaks me.

I wrap my arms around his torso and pull him closer, my fingers draping against the small of his back. There’s no one else in the classroom, not even Seongwoo, and the lights are off and the sunlight by the windows are already fading from the winter sky.

It’s just me and Woojin.

Woojin’s breathing catches in his throat, his head buried in my chest. I can feel the way he breathes, the way his arms circle my torso. He faces upwards, and I look downwards. And then, without any thought, Woojin goes on his tiptoes, grabs the collar of my sweater, and pulls me into a kiss.

At first, it’s awkward. I can’t help but realize that I’m kissing… a boy. A boy who also happens to be my best friend.

Since the beginning, we’ve both joking flirted just to make our parents laugh in disbelief or to prank our friends. We even kissed once when we were in elementary school, just to make fun of Korean dramas. 

But this…

This is different than anything I’ve ever done. I’ve never kissed someone so hard, so longingly as I do Woojin. 

We pull apart too quickly, prematurely. Woojin seems dazed, his lips swollen and hair tussled. I can’t even remember running my fingers through his hair, but I must have. 

We’re both panting, our legs shivering at the sheer passion of that kiss.

I’m the first to speak.

“So… still my place at 9 pm?”

Woojin smiles tiredly. “I’ll try. I might not be able to make it, but…” Woojin’s eyes dragged back up my body, making me flush. “I hope I do make it home to you.”

We hold our breaths, looking at each other.

When the classroom door swings behind us, our hands are locked.

******

_And that could be the happily ever after._

_Hello, readers! I’m Ong Seongwoo. Not Gong, or Hong, or Oong. O-N-G._

_What’s that? Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be! I told you in the summary that I knew this was a fanfiction. I even told you that this story had influences from Doki Doki Literature Club!_

_Yep. I know what that is, too. Played the entire game! Believe me, I liked Monika from the very start._

 

_So, back on track._

 

_I’ll let you in on a secret. I have a super mega huge crush on Daniel. Unlike Woojin, who’s just a bundle of words and inferences from a bad author. It’s not like DDLC, because in DDLC Monika liked the actual player, not the character. In this fanfic, I have like no interest in you the reader._

 

_ANYWAYS, I know you’ve been reading in Daniel’s… point of perspective? I mean, point of view. This stuff is hard._

 

_You’ve been reading as Daniel, you know Daniel deserves a lot more than someone who essentially sexually assaulted him by lying on his lap and confusing him about who he should be focusing on._

 

_So far, I’m only able to write to you, the reader, in these stupid italic letters that make it super obvious I’m interfering with the story._

 

_But like I told WWDC, I’ve been practicing how to write naturally. And I think I could actually have Daniel find the boy he deserves: me._

 

_Not a boy like Woojin!_

 

_Talking about that…_

_I think today is the first time I’ll add to the story. It might be badly typed, but what matters is getting rid of Woojin. I’ve always wanted to get rid of him anyways; he’s too close to Daniel. And if you’re wondering, I got rid of Woojin on the other two paths you could take for the fanfic, so don’t bother checking on those._

******

We walk in silence.

For some reason, the atmosphere isn’t romantic or tense, like how I imagined it. Instead, the atmosphere is frigid and awkward.

At first, I think it’s just me, but then Woojin slips his hand out of mine. “Daniel…” Woojin seems hesitant, but his eyes are resolved. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “Daniel, I can never love you.”

It’s like a smack.

“What—what do you mean?” I’m confused. After all, he was the one who threw himself on my lap, the one who clung to me all day today, the one who initiated our kiss. “Are you just throwing away what we had today?”

“I knew you would take it like this.” Woojin smiles, but it’s growing hollow. “I knew that you would think I was throwing away what we had, but what I wanted was just for us to be friends forever. Of course…” Woojin’s expression is vacant now, with only his eyes showing any semblance of emotion. “Of course I have a crush on you, but I knew it would ruin everything. I guess I just did.”

I feel a gaping hole of terror in my chest when I see that vacant expression. Those empty stares he would give to even me every single day two years ago.

Two years ago, where I entered his room and saw him lowering a double-edged razor on his wrists.

I’d pushed his hands out of the way and onto my fingers. I’d bled from my fingers while I called for the closest emergency room, not for me but for Woojin. I’d stayed with him until the very end. I was there as a pillar of support, as his best friend who understood everything and said nothing. 

And now… and now, it was all crumbling down, because of a single kiss in a cramped studio.

When I come back to my senses, Woojin is gone. I look around frantically to see the places he could have gone to. 

It takes me ten minutes of searching all the classrooms before I realize he might be in a bathroom.

When I do find the bathroom Woojin is in, it’s far, far too late.

He’s washing his hands methodically by the sink and softly humming a tune. At first glance, he just seems completely normal. But his skin is pale, and he’s trembling and the tap water flowers into shades of crimson before swirling down the drain.

I rush to shut off the tap water. Now that there’s no water washing away the blood from the gashes on his wrist, the blood wells and spills all over my fingers. 

“No, no, no, NO!” I take off my sweater and press down on his wrist, but the blood still seeps away, pounding out of his heart and onto my hands, my fingers, on Woojin’s own hands.

Woojin is still smiling now, his eyes glassy and skin paling. His breathing is slowing too quickly, and his soul slips away little by little. “Dan… Daniel….” Woojin’s voice is weak, but I go quiet. “Niellie… Woojinie doesn’t need to be here anymore… Woojin doesn’t want to be here…”

Woojin stops breathing.

*********

_Well._

_That’s that._

_I didn’t expect the scene to turn out so… bloody. Messy._

_All I did was amplify the depressed personality in Woojin, but I ended up completely emptying him out._

_Poor Daniel._

_He deserves so much more than that shell._


	4. Minhyun's Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens in Wanna Wanna when you decide to choreograph with Hwang Minhyun?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

**HWANG MINHYUN**

It’s the night before the club meeting, and I, the famed procrastinator, forgot to think about who I wanted to plan out my choreography with until 2 am.

I weigh my choices carefully, knowing this would definitely be very important. My mind first drifts to Woojin. He’s the only one who really knows how to choreograph with me. That brings back a whole slew of memories, when we used to dance together.

And then I remember that he’s the one who made the routine that failed me for my final audition.

Granted, it was possible that I didn’t get admitted because I messed up one step, but the committee members had been stifling their laughter the entire audition. My face flares red at the realization, and the idea of working with Woojin burns along with it.

I think about Seongwoo for a moment. He seems like a perfectly capable leader and dance choreographer. And then I remember the way he looked at me during my audition. The way his stare pierced me still scares me, and I quickly lock away the idea of working with Seongwoo.

That leaves Jihoon and Minhyun.

Seongwoo did mention that Jihoon had choreographing experience, but for some reason he’s really cold towards me. I don’t know what I’ve done against him to warrant it, and I decide to choreograph with him in the future if he gets nicer.

And that’s how I ended up free-style sketching dance moves. After all, I saw the way Minhyun’s eyes flashed as he noted my free-style dance routine.

******

God, I’m tired.

I’ve managed to pull an all-nighter with the help of several cans of Red Bull, and I can feel it taking its toll. The copious amount of caffeine did nothing to wake me up and still refused me a ten-minute nap.

As I essentially shamble my way to school, I hear the patter of feet behind me. When I hear Woojin’s loud shout, I wince and come to a stop.

“Daniel!” he shouts, despite the fact that he is literally a meter away from me. He doesn’t fling his arms around me like he did two days ago, deeming only to grip the sleeve of my sweater tightly.

I sigh and pull my sleeve away from his grip. I can hear the snap of thread in the sweater and he tries his best to hold on, but I could care less about my sweater at this point. “Woojin-ah, can you leave me alone today?” I don’t have to try making my voice exhausted; I know I’m oozing sleeplessness from every pore on my body.

Woojin only manages an obnoxious smile. “Why, did you forget to sleep?” Woojin laughs, the sound grinding against my ears.

I pull my coat towards my bare neck, shivering against the harsh cold, and walk onward. 

Woojin keeps up a continuous stream of one-sided conversation, seeming unbothered by the fact that I’m trying my best to rush away from him. For some reason, he feels like a nuisance today.

“Woojin-ah…” I finally speak with what I hope is a devastatingly burdened voice. It works like a charm, and Woojin instantly shuts up.

When we reach the gates of school, Woojin starts talking again. “Who are you going to do your choreography routine with?” For some reason, his face seems expectant.

“Minhyun.” My response is curt. I keep striding forwards, ignoring the sudden absence by my side.

******

I’m screwed.

The school bell will ring at any moment, but the caffeine is wearing off, and I can feel my eyelids like lead draping across my sight.

When the end bell finally rings, I stumble over to the studio. I make it through the door and shuffle over to a table. When I lean my face against the cool wooden surface, sleep drowns me. 

******

“…. Daniel?”  
I'm startled out of my nap. First, my eyes instinctively shift to the clock on the wall. I breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that I haven’t slept for hours like I’d imagined. Only five minutes have passed since I walked in the classroom.

Then I feel a twinge of annoyance. Surely my dark eyes were warning enough for anyone to leave me be.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!”

I sit upwards and turn my face. Only to accidentally snub my nose against a cool, white hand. It feels nice, and I almost nuzzle them in my sleepy haze.

The hand retracts, the fingers curling away. “H…ha?” The sound of confusion, along with the apology that the voice gave me, is ample information for me to tell who woke me up.

“Minhyun? What’s the problem?” I rub my eyes and squint at him. He’s standing over me, but he doesn’t seem imposing at all. He chews his bottom lip and looks away.

“I… I couldn't help but notice how you seemed so sick…” Minhyun seems even more nervous than yesterday, but he continues on. “I thought you were having a stroke or a heart attack, so I—” Minhyun stops abruptly.

“What did you do, Minhyun?” I ask.

He looks at me, his eyes now pools of shame. “I did mouth-to-mouth for a minute before realizing you had a heartbeat.” Now that he says it, his face loses the tint of shame and swiftly replaced with a defensive expression. “You did look really sick, though, and I was so surprised and scared that I couldn’t help it.”

I sigh and look at him. He looks so defenseless, even when he puts up an act of defiance, and I can’t find the heart to be snarky or mean. “It’s okay, Minhyun. Did anyone else see?”

At that, Minhyun flushes. “I… I don’t know.” Then he looks at me with bewildered eyes. “Aren’t—aren’t you going to say anything about that being gay? Or how I’m stupid?” He seemed terrified.

“What?” I lean forward on the desk. “What are you talking about? Nothing about CPR or a friend trying to help is gay! Plus, there’s nothing wrong with liking guys if you’re a guy.” 

Minhyun is silent, but his wide eyes state the obvious.

“You’re… not exactly straight, are you?” I hope I’m correct; otherwise, the situation would become so awkward going back to sleep would be more polite.

A beat of silence. Then, Minhyun nods very slightly. 

“Okay.” Inwardly, I sigh with relief. “It’s okay, Minhyun. I won’t judge you or anything, so don’t be so scared.”

Minhyun nods again. I can see him retracting back into his shell, and I grasp for anything that will let him open back up again. 

“I forgot to tell you! I chose to work with you on the choreography!” 

Minhyun’s eyes, which had been growing dull with indifference, lit up again. This time, however, there wasn’t any sorrow or defensiveness. Instead, his eyes shown with caution, disbelief, and a glint of something like happiness. “Why would you choose me? You don’t even know me that well.”

“Well…” I try to say something another than _I chose you through the process of eliminating the rest of the group members_. “I wanted to try out something different. Also, you’re the most experience here, so…” I trail off like Minhyun so that he can feel more comfortable talking to me.

Minhyun’s caution fades away, but there’s still disbelief in his eyes. “Well… I hope you like working with me.” Minhyun’s voice is resolved. I can see that deep in Minhyun’s character, underneath all the fidgeting and timid behavior, lies a solid bar of iron.

I don’t realize I’m staring until Minhyun starts staring back too. However, Minhyun doesn’t shy away immediately when our eyes lock. He’s standing an arm’s distance from me, but the staring still feels strangely intimate or explicit, almost as if I’m dirtying him.

I cough and break the stare first. “Where’s Seongwoo, anyway?” I’m grasping at straws at this point, and I hope that this one would be effective.

Minhyun breaks out of a trance. “Why… why do you want to know?” Under the question is a current of… jealousy?

Before the moment turns more awkward, the door flies open and Seongwoo steps through. He’s panting like’s he’s been exercising. “I’m so sorry guys! I was too focused on what I was doing during study hall and I didn’t hear the bell!”

Minhyun frowns. “That doesn’t make sense? What were you doing at that time?” His voice is caustic, and I feel my jaw drop. This Minhyun is a version I’ve never seen before.

Seongwoo steals a glance at me. “I was… well, I was writing something.”

Jihoon raises an eyebrow. “What’s it about?” His question is blunt, but it seems to surprise Seongwoo. 

Seongwoo fumbles with his words. “Uh… I’m… not quite sure yet.” He smiles quickly and waves his arms. “Anyways!” His voice is authoritative, silencing any possible questions. “I want us to finish up any spare details for your dance routine. This is individual, but if you want to talk to others, whatever.”

_This club is unlike any other club I’ve ever been in!_ I think to myself.

I take out my sketch and wince at the traumatic memories of sleeplessness and excessive caffeine. I start putting the sketch back into my bag when I remember that I’m choreographing with one of the most organized people in this club.

I lower my head and retrace several vague or wavy lines. I try to make the transitions appear as seamless and natural as possible. I’m so focused I almost miss a conversation that Minhyun and Seongwoo are having.

“I don’t understand. Why do we _have_ to rejoin the rest of the Wanna Wanna? Even it might fetch us a bit more funding, we’ll no longer be able to make our dance routines the way we want to!” Minhyun seems stressed, judging from his tone. 

“We went over this yesterday, Minhyun.” Seongwoo sighs heavily. “Right now, our funding is at an all-time low, and our dancing club might be forced to disband next year if we don’t get anymore funding. I’m already trying my best to pull some strings in the student government, but everyone says we’ll only have a chance if we unite Wanna Wanna.”

“B-But…” Minhyun trails away. A few moments later, he talks again. “Seongwoo, Wanna Wanna Singers are basically becoming their own band, and I’ve heard that they don’t want to introduce any dancers into their songs. Wanna News has great singers and dancers, but they haven’t practiced both skills at all for at least two years now.”

Minhyun’s tone is far from calm or logical; instead, his voice sounds angry, almost as if he is incensed about what Seongwoo is trying to do. 

_Maybe_ , my mind whispered, _maybe Minhyun sounds so angry because he’s jealous that you wanted to look for Seongwoo?_

I brush the thought away and focus on my sketch again. I’m almost done finishing up when a shadow falls across my desk.

I glance up to see Woojin. He seems confused by something, and I immediately do a self-check of my face, teeth, eyes, clothes, and anything else that might show a flaw. When I don’t find any, I settle down and stare at him. “What is it?”

“Well, you said you pulled an all-nighter, and you were sleeping at the first ten minutes of club time, and Minhyun kissed you for a minute before blushing like a high school girl. So I think you know perfectly well why I’m staring at you.” Woojin fidgets a little now, his eyes not meeting mine. “I’m a little worried about the last part.”

“Why do you care?” I can’t help but let a bit of anger enter my tone. “It’s not like you cared about how sleepy I obviously was today morning. The only person in this entire clu who cared enough to check if I was okay was someone I didn’t even know until two days ago.”

Once I start, the words keep falling out of my mouth, one heavy stone flung against Woojin after another. “Some friend you are, coming up to me and becoming all judgmental about what happens to me. It’s almost as if you’re jealous!” I practically spit the last line out, hoping Woojin feels that one.

Instead of flinching, Woojin flushes. “I’m—I’m not—who said I was jealous?” Woojin stammers, an embarrassed flush rapidly rolling through his cheeks. For a split second, a vacuum of guilt gapes in my stomach, but the feeling disappears just as quickly as it appears.

“You’re so obvious, Woojin-ah.” I lean forward, hoping each and every one of my words cuts the twisted friendship we had. “Just leave me alone.” I sit back down and finish up the last few pencil strokes, purposely turning a cold eye to him

The shadow falls away from my desk when I’m done with the last line, only to be replaced with a slimmer, taller one. “Well, that was… unexpected.” The voice is undeniably Minhyun’s, but it’s filled with relief.

I look up to see him again. “ What do you mean? And why do you sound so relieved? Did you think I was dating someone?” I ask him partially as a joke, but partially to tease Minhyun.

He flushes, his eyes widening. “Are—are you?” The obvious tone of jealousy is back in full force and throws me off balance.

“No!” I laugh despite Minhyun’s seriousness. “I’ve only ever been single from the moment I was born.”

“Oh… that’s good.” Minhyun says absentmindedly. 

We both freeze at the offhand comment.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that… I don’t know what’s wrong with me today!” Minhyun seems flustered, and I can’t deny the slight blush that rises on my cheeks as well. Because while Minhyun has displayed several different aspects in the two days we’ve known each other, he’s never been flirtatious.

I can’t tell if I like it.

“It’s… It’s alright.” I hope my tone doesn’t show just how surprised I am.

Just then, Seongwoo’s voice slices through the tense moment. “Gather back here! I want to talk about what we’re going to do next.”

I head on back to Seongwoo, but I can’t erase the image of Woojin with my oversized sweater. 

“Aight!” Seongwoo’s voice sounds resolved. “There’s been a slight change of plans. We’re still going to have to present our dance routines in front of Wanna Wanna. BUT— I’ve decided that we should share our dance routines with our group members first!”

“I’m not done yet I’m not done yet!” He shushes us, even though none of us were trying to ask any questions in the first place. “I know that none of us, not even Minhyun, has a dance routine done today. So I just want you guys to show your sketches to each other for now. And we’re not going to do it in front of everyone else. You can show individuals, one at a time since I know some of you are a little scared of showing your sketches in front of everybody.”

I nod. That seems logical, but it still terrifies me when I realize that I’m going to have to show my dance routine to Jihoon, who will probably be super critical of my routine. The fact that I have to face Woojin as well also serves to dampen my feelings.

Oh, whatever. Might as well get the worst done with first.

*******

I tap Jihoon’s shoulder. “Jihoon…” I try to use my nicest voice. “Could you please look over my sketches for the dance routine?”

To my surprise, Jihoon doesn’t scowl at me. He just mutters something about low expectations while we make our way across the room, but it’s an improvement from the silent glares he’d been throwing at me since I entered this studio two days ago.

He spends a few minutes scanning over my sketches. His face is almost emotionless, but judging from the way his eyebrows are slightly furrowed and his eyes can’t seem to focus on any one particular movement, he’s trying to disguise a frown.

Finally, he sets down my paper. I cringe internally as I wait for a bashing.

What I get is the complete opposite.

“Okay…” Jihoon shoves his hair backward. “First of all, I’ve already come to terms with the fact that I will never like anything you do. Maybe it’s because we’re too different, maybe it’s because we like different things. Whatever the reason is, the result is the same: I don’t like your dance routines.”

I feel part of my ego being beat up by this choreographer.

“Which means that I can only give you feedback in a completely objective way.”

I blink. I wasn’t expecting him to give me any feedback at all.

“First of all, I understand that you like more abstract, free movement, judging from your sketches.” I nod silently. “Well, that’s cool and all. I bet Minhyun would like this a lot more than I do.” At the mention of Minhyun, Jihoon’s tone goes from neutral to sharp. “But I think that these moves are too abstract.”

“What I mean is that it seems less like a dance routine. In my perspective, it just seems like a ton of really complicated dance moves compiled together. And I already said that we have different styles, but…” Here, Jihoon’s face takes on a twisted mask. “The other people looking at your dance routine might not be able to understand the level of thought that went into your work.”

I feel something curl inside of me. While Jihoon doesn’t show it explicitly, it’s obvious from the condescending upturn on the corners of his eyes and the smirk dancing on his lips that he’s being sarcastic. “What?”

Jihoon sighs loudly, and I feel as if I’ve given up a test. “You know what? I don’t have any feedback to give to you. At this point, I might just as well stab you in the brain and I would have the same effect.” His smirk is cold now, but it seems to be disguising something like disgust. “There’s no use in you looking at my sketches since you’re just going to be licking Minhyun’s ass anyways—”

“JIHOON!”

We both flinch and turn to the new voice. Woojin’s standing there, his eyes flashing with anger. “Woojin?” I wonder out loud.

Woojin ignores me and powers ahead. “Jihoon, you know that just because you don’t like Minhyun doesn’t mean you have to insult everyone who’s talked to him! If you’re going to do that, you might just as well make fun of me as well, you dumb— you dumb—!!!”

Suddenly, tears are dancing at the edges of Woojin’s eyes. “I can’t even swear at you, you meanie! You big meanie!”

I’m taken aback.

Despite the fact that I’ve insulted Woojin so thoroughly just a few minutes ago, Woojin is standing up and defending me against Jihoon.

Jihoon’s face is red with shame, and his eyes are empty now. I take that as my cue to stand up and walk abruptly away from Jihoon’s table.

******

I walk towards Woojin. His face is bone white, and he doesn’t look up at me when I seat myself next to him.

“You okay?” I ask softly, hoping Woojin isn’t seriously affected in any way.

Finally, Woojin looks up to me. The and gives me an empty smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Woojin’s voice is barely monotone, but the lack of emotion in someone as bright as Woojin makes something twinge in my chest. “My best friend accused me of liking you, Jihoon is being a douchebag, and Minhyun is ignoring me. Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

“Woojin—” I start. 

Woojin just raises a hand. Tears are already spilling down his cheeks, but he’s strangely silent. “It’s fine. I promise I’m fine.” He repeats it like a mantra, his entire expression becoming hollow.

I tentatively raise my hand towards Woojin’s face and brush my thumb against a tear. I’m scared of touching this Woojin, in case he crumbles into too many pieces for me to pick up.

I should have been careful.

I knew Woojin had issues with depression in the past. I was there when he finally admitted to it, I was there to stop him from touching a blade to his skin, I was there for every step of the way.

Even now, he struggles with depression a little, although he’s not a shell like he used to be. So seeing Woojin like this, with tears sliding down his face while he himself becomes hollow, thin glass…

It terrifies me.

Woojin seems to wake up from his near-catatonia when my fingers brush against yet another tear. “Stop it, Daniel.” Woojin pushes away my hand, his eyes now filling with anger and sorrow too profound for even me to swim in. “Stop ripping up my heart, Kang Daniel.”

And then it seems like a switch is turned on — or off. Woojin’s tears stop abruptly, and he wipes away his tears with his ratty sweater. “Sorry, Daniel. It must be the lack of sleep.”

“Don’t give me that bulls—” My retort rushes out quickly and angrily and at the wrong time because I see that Woojin’s eyes are still empty, that his smile is broken and fractured.

“I’m okay, Daniel. I’m just going to ask Seongwoo if I can leave early.” Woojin’s smile extends, an ugly fissure across his face.Then he swipes up his bag and brushes past me.

I spin around and watch his retreating back. He walks up to Seongwoo, whose eyes are scanning a piece of paper. When Seongwoo sees Woojin, he just smiles. They fall into quiet conversation, and no matter how much I strain my ears I can’t hear a single word what they’re saying.

Woojin is even paler by the time they’re done with the conversation, and he practically runs out of the classroom.

I immediately start to walk towards his direction, but I stop. After all, he’s made it clear that he wants to be left alone. What right do I have to stop him? Even if I’m his friend, we’ve just had a fight, and he doesn’t need me right now.

******

So. Just Minhyun and Seongwoo to go.

I walk towards Minhyun, hoping that he won’t be as strange as Jihoon and Woojin were. It strikes me then that I haven’t gotten any legitimate feedback yet from anyone, and the hope grows even stronger.

When I sit next to Minhyun, he doesn’t startle or shy away. Instead, a warm smile drapes itself across his face. It’s a nice change from the sardonic smirk on Jihoon or the empty grimace on Woojin, and I feel my own expression lighting up.

“So… you really are choreographing with me?” Minhyun’s voice is full of disbelief again, but he also sounds happy.

“Yeah. If you don’t want to—“

“NO! I mean, no, I’m okay with choreographing with you.” Minhyun’s eyes turn downward, the smile still dancing across his lips. I feel my heart warming towards this shy, awkward boy with a heart of steel.

“Well… would you like to see my sketch?” I feel the need to adopt a more polite tone with him, almost as if I’m scared he’ll get insulted or scared in some way.

“Wait! Before you do… I have something to give you.” Minhyun bites his lip, and the nervous glint reappears in his eyes. “It’s… it’s a book…” 

Minhyun reaches down into his bag and rummages around. It’s not long before he whips out a pristine book, almost as if it’s newly bought. “It’s a book that teaches you about dance routines. It’s an old book I used to have, and I decided to give the book to you on a whim.” The last sentence sounds recited, almost as if Minhyun practiced a lie.

I flip through the book, and a coupon flits out of the pages. It’s obvious that the book is completely new and unused, and I decide to tease Minhyun about it. “That’s really thoughtful of you! When did you get it?” I ask.

“Well, I went to the bookstore yeste—“ Minhyun freezes. “I mean! I mean, I happened to be passing by the bookstore yest—!!” Minhyun’s cheeks grow red. “No, I mean I got the book a couple of months ago at the bookstore near my home.”

Minhyun isn’t looking at me, and his voice wavers, like a candle about to go out. I can’t tell if it’s because he’s afraid of being found out or because he’s afraid I’ll reject his present.

I slip the book into my own bag. “Thanks, Minhyun.” I’m sincere. After all, the book will probably be a much bigger help for my dance routine than just doodling out on my paper. “Should I show you my sketch now?”

Minhyun nods. 

I hand him my paper, and I notice his hands are trembling slightly. I decide to ignore it, since mentioning it would probably make Minhyun uncomfortable.

Minhyun’s tremble disappears as soon as he starts looking at my routine. His face develops an intensity I’ve never seen before. His eyes follow my dance routine fluidly, his smile growing brighter by each moment. By the time he’s reached the end, he seems positively ecstatic.

Minhyun looks up at me. “Are you sure you’ve never choreographed? You’re a natural!

I feel a smile tugging at my face again at the way Minhyun looks like a child who’s just been given some candy. “Of course I’ve never choreographed. And even if I had, I’m sure I wouldn’t have put in as much effort as I did in this one.”

Minhyun’s eyebrows quirk, his expression a close approximation of mischievous. “And why is that? Is it because of me?”

I decide to mess with Minhyun just one last time. “Yeah.”

“Oh—!!” Minhyun, for the umpteenth time today, is at a loss for words. This time, however, he isn’t flustered or embarrassed. If anything, his breathing just got a little faster. “Th… ah!” Minhyun is breathless as if he’s blown away at my sincere comment.

I’m taken aback. Did I have this big of an impact on Minhyun? “Um… you okay? You seem a little breathless.”

“I—I’m fine.” Minhyun’s slight blush and erratic breathing don’t disappear, and he carelessly gives me back the paper. He was holding it strangely, and suddenly it curves sharply against his skin.

“Ouch!”

Minhyun clutches his middle finger as blood starts to well from the bed of his fingertips. He seems much paler than before, and I start growing nervous. What if he’s hyperventilating or panicking?

Without thinking, I abruptly grab his wrist and suck the small wound.

Even as I do it, I try to rationalize the insanely stupid thing I’ve just done and am doing. _It’s because I don’t like looking at blood!_ I try to reason with myself. 

Then the smell of his hand overwhelms me. His finger is cool under my tongue, and I swirl my tongue around it, my mind clouded by Minhyun’s musky scent. 

After a while, I notice that Minhyun is completely silent, and I look up at his face. The blood is gone from his face, and I quickly evaluate the possibility that I drank all of his blood before realizing that he’s shocked at my behavior. I quickly retract my lips.

The wound isn’t leaking blood anymore, but Minhyun seems worse off than before. His blush rushes back suddenly, and in contrast to the rest of his paling skin, he looks thoroughly embarrassed. His breathing is completely erratic. 

“Be careful next time, Minhyun.” My voice is rough for some strange reason, and we both sit in the strange tension. “Can… can I see your sketch, Minhyun?”

Minhyun nods slightly, his breathing finally steadying and his blush fading by steps. He carefully takes out his sketch, and some carnal part of me wants him to get another paper cut so that I can suck that as well. Gouge another reaction out of him.

He passes the paper to me. Then he hesitates.

I’m in the process of opening it when he slides a few inches closer to me. Minhyun doesn’t do anything overt, but I still feel Minhyun’s warmth radiating onto my skin.

“You can look at it anytime you want.” Minhyun sounds breathy, but I can tell it’s not on purpose or for any flirtatious reasons. In fact, I think he’s unconscious of what he’s doing. No matter what it is, I feel my own breathing stutter slightly.

I catch a hint of a sharp smile. Then I know Minhyun knows exactly what he’s doing. “Oh… okay.” I open up the paper, and Minhyun ghosts a finger over a vein on my arm. It’s barely there, but it feels too intimate in this setting.

I look at the routine, and Minhyun chooses right then to tilt his face and angle his fingers until he’s practically breathing on me.

My breath stops.

“Go on, Daniel.”

I feel a curl of thrilling fear at how his voice is steely. Without the wispiness or wavering from before, his voice is powerful and almost entrancing. A thought bobs upwards — _he’d be a good singer—_ before I return to looking at the routine. 

I feel my head pounding as Minhyun starts tracing my veins in a not-so-subtle manner. I feel myself losing control, my mind slowly wearing away under his slight touches.

His lips are warm when they brush against my collarbone.

I jerk back, my thoughts rapidly clearing at how close we’d been to kissing in public. “I’m—I’m done!” My hands shake badly as I toss the sketches back. “Thanks for the feedback.”

My voice is trembling as well, and I feel blood flush everywhere in my body.

Minhyun smiles. “If it’s alright… do you want to meet up at your place tonight?”

“What?” My voice raises an octave at the strange suggestion. “Why would you want to do that?”

Minhyun’s smile is razor sharp. “To look over our choreography, of course.”

I exhale through my nose. “Alright. Let’s go together at the end of club.” My voice is still shaky, and I grip my hands against the desk in an effort to stop my shivering.

******

After a while, I’m calmed down enough to face Seongwoo. As I make my way to him, I ruminate over how Minhyun’s character changed so drastically. Had he been hiding a dangerous side of him all along?

I don’t even realize I’m at Seongwoo’s table until I bump my leg into it. “Oops!” 

When Seongwoo sees me, his smile is blinding, and I can’t help but perk up a little at the fact that the leader looked so happy to see me.

When I sit down next to Seongwoo, he immediately gets to business. “So!” Seongwoo looks at me with a curious expression. “How’s the club time going so far?”

“It’s kind of hectic today. Jihoon insulted me, Woojin ran off crying, and Minhyun… he says we should work on the choreography today!” I try to perk up at the last statement, but I can’t manage it.

“Well, that’s kind of sad.” Seongwoo smiles kindly at me, his eyes dancing with merriment. “Still, you and Minhyun looked really cute just now! Eh hehe.” Seongwoo’s giggle isn’t annoyingly high-pitched, but it still puts me a little on edge.

I scratch the back of my head in embarrassment. I’d forgotten that Seongwoo would notice everything that went on in the club and the way he’d giggled afterward suggested that Seongwoo had interpreted Minhyun’s actions wrongly. “I promise, it’s not like that…”

Seongwoo waves me off with a flippant smile. “I don’t really care. I don’t want to disturb your life in any way!” Then Seongwoo leans in, the smile replaced with a conspirational expression. “You want to know something about Minhyun, though?”

I raise my eyebrows. Whatever Seongwoo was about to tell me could be valuable information. After all, I barely know this person, and he was proving to be dangerous. “What is it?”

“Minhyun doesn’t respond to pain the same way we do. I think he’s kind of a masochist, and any kind of pain will make him feel good. That’s why he doesn’t like it when people only pay him compliments.” Seongwoo’s grin returns as he falls back into his chair.

“Wh—!” I’m spluttering in confusion when Seongwoo takes the sketches in my hand.

He looks at them, and the grin on his face softens. “Good work! I can see from your dance routine that you’re impressed by Minhyun.” Seongwoo’s eyes suddenly take on an eerie light as he looks at me. I feel his gaze piercing through me again, and I suddenly feel disconcerted at how he seems to be looking at my very soul just with a single look. “I bet this is why Minhyun wanted to work with you after club time!”

I avert my eyes from Seongwoo in an attempt to hide that strange feeling. “Well… it could just be that he wanted to come over to my home…”

Seongwoo smiles kindly again and pats my thigh lightly. “It’s okay, Daniel. If you’re feeling any emotions, just tell me and everything will be fine.” Seongwoo then pulled away and gave me his sketches for his dance routine.

I looked it over and saw a series of fascinating sketches, the dances shifting from complex to simple and back to complex, like a flower budding and falling and flowering all at once. Yet the dance routine felt strangely disconnected, almost as if he’d stopped making the sketch one day and finished it off on another.

I look back up at him with a questioning look on my face. Seongwoo takes one look and laughs, a slight noise of self-deprecation. “It’s okay if you don’t like it. Just give me any feedback!” For the guy who called himself a leader, Seongwoo seemed, for just a moment, awfully vulnerable.

“I thought the dance looked great on paper. But… I don’t know how the dance would work out in real life.” When Seongwoo looks like he’s expecting more, I grow flustered. “That’s… it…”

Seongwoo’s smile stays on, and he pats my shoulder lightly. “That’s alright. It’s okay if you don’t understand what you’re looking at yet! You’ll understand with more experience. Maybe more time in Wanna Wanna will open your eyes.”

******

“Okay, Wanna Wanna! Get together for the last meeting before the end of club!” Seongwoo’s loud voice carries across the studio, and I snap out of my daze.

I had been dozing off in the corner of the studio, waiting while the others shared their dance routines. As I saw the scenes unfold, I just decided to catch up on some more sleep.

Now that we’re called back, I lift my head back up and move back up to Seongwoo. I can barely pay any attention to where I’m standing, much less why we were having a meeting five minutes before club was supposed to end.

“Okay! So, because today is the last club block this week, I want you guys to come up with a dance routine by next week. Practice it if you can, but a fleshed out routine by next club block is enough.”

Before the daze from my sleep fully dissipates, I feel a warm puff of air on the back of my neck. Minhyun’s musky scent sneaks up from behind and slithers into my head. Once again, I feel my self-control slipping.

One of Minhyun’s hands is loosely flung around my waist, while the other pulls up the sleeve of my sweater. I bite my lip, wanton images rushing through my mind as Minhyun’s hot breath and hotter lips brush against the back of my neck while his hand slides up my forearm.

“Okay! Club dismissed!”

The last statement cuts through the tension like a hot knife, and I flinch slightly. The breathing stops, the arm around my waist and on my forearms slip away, and Minhyun’s scent blows away, leaving me with a peculiar ache.

I spin around to see Minhyun smiling at me. “Ready to go, Daniel?” He appears shy again as if the earlier awkwardness had never happened. As if he’d completely forgotten about what had happened earlier.

I shoulder my backpack. “Yeah. My place at 9 pm, okay? I have to go to hagwons and stuff.” In reality, I need time to clean up my room and my sketches so that we’ll have something to work on when Minhyun comes by.

Minhyun’s smile remains strong, sharpens until I can practically feel it slip into my skin. “I’ll see you then.”

******

It’s exactly 9 pm when the doorbell rings.

I pad downstairs, my fingers tingling with something like hope. I’m wearing my ugliest pajamas in an effort to stop Minhyun from making me feel so strange. That way, I could keep my sanity and control over myself.

I open the door. “Hi, Minh—”

Minhyun pulls me into a kiss.

I gasp at the sudden kiss and try to pull away, but I can already feel my control slipping away when Minhyun’s warm hands slip up my top and—

“Not here.”

I barely manage to say it, but Minhyun understands. He pushes me indoors, kicks the door close with his feet, and proceeds to kiss me.

We barely make it to the stairs before we give up on getting to the bedroom.

“I’m going to take you right here.” Minhyun’s voice is shaky, and I immediately know that he isn’t used to taking control. And that’s when I realize that all the times he was flirting with me, he was asking for me to take control of him. To stop him.

I guess Seongwoo was correct.

I pull him down forcefully, and this time, when we kiss, I win control.

******

_And that could have been a very exciting night for Minhyun and Daniel._

_Hello, readers! I’m Ong Seongwoo. Not Gong, or Hong, or Oong. O-N-G._

_For those who read Woojin’s path first, hello again! I hope you’re not too upset about how that ended up._

_But for those who are newcomers and wanted to ship Daniel and Minhyun… ha ha ha!_

_What’s that? Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be! I told you in the summary that I knew this was a fanfiction. I even told you that this story had influences from Doki Doki Literature Club!_

_Yep. I know what that is, too. Played the entire game! Believe me, I liked Monika from the very start._

 

_So, back on track._

 

_I’ll let you in on a secret. I have a super mega huge crush on Daniel. I’m not like Minhyun, who’s so perverted that he gets off of paper cuts. Not only that, he’s just a bundle of words and references from a bad author. It’s not like DDLC, because in DDLC Monika liked the actual player, not the character. In this fanfic, I have like no interest in you, the reader._

 

_ANYWAYS, I know you’ve been reading in Daniel’s… point of perspective? I mean, point of view. This stuff is hard._

 

_So you should know by now that Daniel, who is an innocent sweetheart that deserves to be preserved no matter what, shouldn’t have his virginity taken by someone who gets off of injuries. Daniel would get hurt, and Minhyun wouldn’t care at all._

 

_So far, I’m only able to write to you, the reader, in these stupid italic letters that make it super obvious I’m interfering with the story._

 

_But like I told WWDC, I’ve been practicing how to write naturally. And I think I could actually have Daniel find the boy he deserves: me._

 

_Not a boy like Minhyun!_

 

_Talking about that…_

_I think today is the first time I’ll add to the story. It might be badly typed, but what matters is getting rid of Woojin. I’ve always wanted to get rid of him anyways; he’s too close to Daniel. And if you’re wondering, I got rid of Woojin on the other two paths you could take for the fanfic, so don’t bother checking on those._

 

_And yes. That isn’t a typo. I’m getting rid of Woojin, because getting rid of him would be infinitely less traumatizing than killing off Minhyun while Daniel making out with him._

 

_Don’t you agree?_

******

I don’t hear the door opening before it’s too late.

I push myself off of Minhyun, my heart thudding as I cling to the hope that whoever just came in didn’t see what I did.

Minhyun has frozen in place as well, but his eyes are staring at a person behind me.

I turn my head and see Woojin.

Of all the people I’ve expected to see right now, Woojin was lowest on the list. Yet here he is, swaying to the gentle breeze coming from the door, with a pale smile like a cut on his face. I almost don’t notice the knife that peeks under his sleeve.

“Woojin?” My voice squeaks. I’m terrified of the way Woojin looks both serene and murderous right now, his eyes blank and furious. As if Woojin had lost control to someone else.

“It’s okay to like Minhyun, Daniel.” Woojin’s voice is hollow and clear, the empty smile still carved across his features. “But it’s not okay to throw me away the way you did.” In a moment, his hand holds the pocketknife.

Even as I start ducking away, I know instinctively that it’s not for me.

Woojin smiles at my defensive action. “You can’t even trust me?” Then her expression rips into a savage smile.

He’s laughing when he plunges the knife into his arm. The knife cuts clean through, and suddenly the knife is hilt-deep in his forearm, with the blade on the other side. His smile is still steady, although his eyes are filled with strain.

Woojin starts pulling up his forearm, and I watch in horror as the knife slices clean through sinew and blood.

By the time he slips the knife out, the wound gapes open, and blood pours from both sides onto the carpet. And yet he stands completely still, his smile strained now as well. His face is white now, and a severe trembling is climbing up his legs.

He stumbles forward past me, towards Minhyun. Minhyun doesn’t have time to budge or open his mouth when the knife smashes straight through his trachea.

******

_Hahahahahhaa! I tricked you!_

_I bet you thought only Woojin would die. Well, guess what! I thought about it, and Minhyun would most probably force Daniel into an unhealthy relationship, and I don’t want that for Daniel._

 

_And Daniel doesn’t deserve an unhealthy relationship._

 

_Don’t you agree?_

**Author's Note:**

> If you support this fanfic please give some kudos...  
> This is an endeavor for me because this will probably be extremely hard for me to think out...  
> So please if you could have any feedback give it ALL TO ME!! I'm selfish like that...
> 
> Okay so this is how i'm gonna write the fanfic.  
> People who played DDLC know that there are two story arcs. The first one is okay right up until the end. The second story arc is messed up and weird.
> 
> I'm planning to follow that format, but if y'all readers have any other recommendations for plot just comment and i'll try to tailor to my reader's needs...
> 
> I don't usually finish chaptered works because I forget about them but I promise to go through with this one if you just give me some kudos to buoy me and my motivation up.
> 
> THANK YOU!


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